


My Place With You Fades Away

by Anonymous



Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angst, Bad why couldn't you just CHOOSE SKEPPY, Dream Smp, Gen, Hurt No Comfort, Self-Sacrifice, Written as platonic but can be read romantically, no real names because no, skeppy-centric, spoilers for Puffy's stream, the red egg is a bitch and needs to DIE
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-11
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:20:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28004550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: This was his purpose. The reason he was here. On the Dream SMP, a single person that was willing to give himself up to protect what mattered to him, even if they couldn't think the same about him. It was fine. He was alright.Or, if the Red Egg plot wasn't a side arc.
Relationships: Zak Ahmed & Darryl Noveschosch, Zak Ahmed/Darryl Noveschosch
Comments: 12
Kudos: 215
Collections: Anonymous





	1. Imprisoned

**Author's Note:**

> hi! its me again. The idiot who wrote the Laughing Bet, not that many people saw it. I was watching Puffy's stream and I just. Dude I had to jump on this before someone else did it and I pussied out lol.
> 
> This is me proving I can write some fat angst just as well as I can write fluff. Prepare for pain, maybe

This was his purpose. The reason he was here. On the Dream SMP, a single person that was willing to give himself up to protect what mattered to him, even if they couldn't think the same about him. It was fine. He was alright. The whispers tried their hardest to infiltrate his mind, to poison his thoughts, but he was strong. The bond of his friendship with his… best friend… could drown out even the most toxic prodding from the egg he’d willingly trapped himself in.

Skeppy wouldn't pretend to understand this creature. The egg, the vines, whatever the hell this thing really was. He didn't understand it one bit and that was fine. He didn't care. It was hurting his friends, and hurting his home, and that's all that mattered. That was enough for him to make the choice he made. That's why he found himself here, in darkness, in the heart of the red egg, where he assumed he would stay. Maybe forever. Maybe not. He was okay.

His friends… Puffy, Ant, Bad. They'd changed so quickly the moment he broke that one piece of obsidian. He knew that it hadn't been their fault, at least he hopes, that the egg had been the one controlling them. But a harsh, hideous part of him kept thinking that there was no excuse for it. That it had been the conscious choice of his friends, to turn so suddenly on him like that. After all, Bad had hesitated so much to choose him over the egg. Didn't he know that would hurt?

_Bad… you hurt me. But I hurt you too._

Skeppy had been being unreasonable. Bad had also been unreasonable. Puffy had been trying to act as middle ground, but they just kept fighting. Skeppy was just frustrated, and sad, and confused, but it wasn't an excuse. The tension was there and it was just as much his fault as it was anyone else’s involved. He'd messed up. It was in his nature to apologize and try to make up for it.

He'd never gotten to apologize.

Bad had looked at him like he had been ready to kill him if he got anywhere near the egg once it was back in control. Skeppy just wished that Bad and the rest had tried to fight it, for him, for the server, for literally anyone, but they had been taken over so easily. His friends would kill anyone for that egg and he'd known that the moment they spoke so coldly to him. It was scary. It had scared him to the core. And he knew that this had to stop.

He'd set it free, he had to imprison it again. But Skeppy knew that his friends wouldn't just let him near the egg for anything. So he had played along, pretended to try and learn how to love the… vile thing. He'd snuck himself in closer with the thing, ignoring its influence easily. The others bought his lies and left him alone with it. While they were gone, Skeppy looked at his options and himself one last time. There wasn't any other way to do this. No matter what he did, he was going to lose his place next to Bad. His best friend. His everything, if he had to say it. But there was no choice.

It was either let the egg stay in control and take Bad away from him, or let the egg take him away from Bad. And he couldn't bear to sit around and watch his best friend fade away from him. So he chose the latter.

He hoped Bad could forgive him someday. He was truly sorry. But this sacrifice, he was willing to make to try and make up for every time he'd done wrong.

_Bad… I'll miss you._

It was funny. In the strange, alien warmth of the red egg, he could almost feel cold tears rolling down his cheeks as he curled up into himself. The egg never stopped trying to take him over. He'd hold out for as long as he could, but he didn't expect to make it out of this one alive.

Before his thoughts drifted away again, he briefly wondered if the others would hear about what he did, and think that he did this for the greater good of the server. The server never really mattered.

He was doing this for Bad. No one else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> honestly this was super rushed and probably trash lmao idk. A lot of shitty things happened today and it's just. I'm mad at my country and I had 2 finals today and Im stressed as hell. Just needed to distract myself a little.
> 
> I know I said I wouldn't write canon Skephalo and I technically still haven't. I just know when my writing's lines between platonic and romantic are blurred. It can be seen as both if you want. I wrote it platonically, because I always will, as an asexual person I don't do things out of romantic love even if the actions I act out are mainly seen as romantic. It's a weird line yknow.
> 
> Anyways... I have another one shot in the works for later. I'll try to finish it as soon as I can. It's more angst unfortunately lol, sorry if you don't want me making you suffer anymore.
> 
> see you soon!


	2. Chronic Feelings Of Emptiness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darkness surrounded him. Despite the fact the egg could glow, it seemed almost dull and dead after he’d trapped it in the obsidian prison. Skeppy wasn’t fooled though. Even in the dark he could see through its lies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a multi-chapter story now because I see the potential the Crimson Arc has and I want to take it my own way. I am a greedy bastard.
> 
> Anyways... since this is no longer a one-shot, expect chapters longer than the first. I'll probably aim for chapter lengths between 1.3k-2k words, because I refuse to put a 3k word minimum on more than one of my stories. P a i n

Darkness surrounded him. Despite the fact the egg could glow, it seemed almost dull and dead after he’d trapped it in the obsidian prison. Skeppy wasn’t fooled though. Even in the dark he could see through its lies. It wasn’t even trying to lie anyways, because the whispers never stopped. It talked to him without end, repeating the same things to him over and over. As much as Skeppy didn’t know the nature of the egg, he knew its game. It had the ability to mind control his friends, and seemingly everyone else. Everyone who came into contact with the egg seemed more or less neutral on its existence, which made Skeppy think that was why it was so easy for them to be taken over. Skeppy went in disliking this thing immediately, as well as having seen and known something fishy was going on with everyone’s actions. He could still fight when the others couldn’t.

Well, he’d trapped himself here. These thoughts and theories didn’t help anyone now. He briefly thought about what his friends were doing now, considering they were safe finally. His friends weren’t idiots- they knew they couldn’t try to save him. The moment the obsidian was gone, the egg would take them over again, and then Skeppy’s choice would mean nothing. If there was any way to actually save him from this prison, then they had to think about it. But once again, Skeppy had no real faith that there was any way to get him out of there at all. He’d probably starve to death before they figured anything out, or he’d simply go mad at the incessant ramblings of the alien thing he pushed himself inside.

“It won’t work, you know.” Skeppy said aloud finally. “Babble your ridiculous nothings at me for the rest of time for all I care. I’d rather die before I let myself succumb to you. You hurt my friends and this is what you get. Stuck in an obsidian prison forever, with someone as annoying as me, until you shrivel up and die like the rest of us!”

When Skeppy began to shout his frustrations and hopeless acceptances, he didn’t actually expect anything to respond in any way. But the moment he stopped for a breath, the egg’s ramblings in his head ceased. He paused warily, his eyes flicking back and forth to his sides despite not being able to see anything at all.

“What’s the big idea? I thought your whole thing was to make others listen to you, not you listening to others.” Skeppy spat, tone still full of hateful venom. “For something known for control, you seem way out of your depth.”

_ They will not rescue you. _

Ah. That was new. The egg had never talked to him like that before- seemingly wanting to hold a proper conversation. That was an actually stable sentence. Nevertheless, this wasn’t something Skeppy was actually surprised to hear. He scoffed.

“Yeah, probably not. Because they can’t, and I knew this before I chose to trap myself in here with you. It’s called doing the right thing, even if I get nothing out of it. I wouldn’t expect you to know what that is, because  _ you have no friends!” _

_ Friends… what is a friend? Is this a desire you humans have? Desires are for weak minds. _

“Of course you don’t know what a friend is.” Skeppy growled. “All you do is see another living thing, and immediately take control of its mind. You don’t even try to understand someone for who they actually are, all you ever do is impose yourself onto them!”

_ Friends… are a desire? _

Skeppy sighed in frustration. This damn thing had no idea about anything. “Sure. Friendship is a desire, I guess. Normal people, unlike you, would go through their life wanting companionship. People are all different and it’s something to be celebrated. Despite the differences of each mind, we can still find similarities amongst ourselves and learn to care and love. It makes us  _ happy. _ ”

_ Happy? Care? Love? What are these words? You speak nonsense. _

Skeppy shouted in frustration, kicking the side of the egg with one of his legs. “Those words are called emotions! Normal people will FEEL things because that’s how intelligent life is supposed to work, you discount Dreamon! You are literally so annoying! Just do me a favor and shut up until you die!”

Silence swept the area for a brief, blissful moment, before Skeppy heard the egg’s voice in his head again.

_ You desire BadBoyHalo, then. You feel things for BadBoyHalo. _

Skeppy spluttered in surprise. “What the fuck? No, not like that! He’s my best friend, of course I’d do anything for him!”

_ You would die for this BadBoyHalo? Not for your other friends? That Antfrost? That CaptainPuffy? _

“Okay, listen here. I have other friends but BadBoyHalo is my BEST friend, and like hell I would let you come near him ever again!” Skeppy hissed. “I love all my friends but Bad’s always going to be my top priority!”

_ So you favor one over the rest. Strange. _

“You have no right to make analytic comments about how close my relationship to Bad is. You are a PARASITE that knows nothing of actual living. Your observations mean nothing, what purpose does this stupid conversation hold?”

_ Learning. You humans… have multiple desires. Too many. Distractions from yourself. I have only one desire. I am focused, you are disorientated. _

“Oh would you just shut up already? You talk like someone I’d love to punch in the face. Do you not understand the permanence of the situation I’ve put you in? Learning should mean nothing to you, because it’s not going to matter. You aren’t escaping this. This is how you are going to live for the rest of your life!”

_ You desire BadBoyHalo. BadBoyHalo desires you. He will want you back. Foolishly. _

Skeppy rolled his eyes in disgust. “You don’t have to say it like that. And I don’t think so. He chose you over me anyways. Now he gets to have neither. Puffy’s good enough to replace me anyways.”

_ I am sensing… betrayal in your thoughts. A strange contradiction to your earlier statements. You claim to ‘love’ this BadBoyHalo, and yet you hold hurt in your heart, caused by him. I don’t understand. _

“People who care about each other can hurt each other sometimes. I would know.” Skeppy responded bitterly. “I’ve made countless mistakes. I don’t know if I should’ve been forgiven for most of them. But that’s not the point. I have enough dignity in myself to know when to make up for those mistakes. Even if it’s the last thing I end up doing.”

_ You still hurt. You want your friends to come and save you. It hurts you to know that they won’t. This is our difference. Dependent. _

“Sounds rather hypocritical of you, considering you rely on the people you mind control to keep you safe.” Skeppy countered.

_ Different. Disposable. Just until I grow enough. Strength not quite enough yet. _

“My FRIENDS are not disposable!” Skeppy snarled, letting the egg’s words get under his skin.

_ But you… are. _

Skeppy deflated with a hollow laugh. “Yeah. I am. I came to terms with that awhile ago. I won’t have to deal with it for much longer at least.”

_ Foolish. Not even death… can provide you an escape now. _

“Wha… what?” Skeppy mumbled, confused. “I’m going to die in here with no food or water. There’s only so much time I can hold onto before my body gives out. I’m not like you, I thought we established this.”

_ You are… interesting. An asset. Worth enough to keep you alive. As long as I am alive, you cannot die. My energy courses through your blood now. You and I… we’re going to be here for a very long time. _

Skeppy gulped, his hands shaking with sudden fear. “No. No, you’re lying. You can’t do that. I don’t believe you have the power to keep me alive like that. No!”

_ You will find out the hard way. _

Skeppy felt something snap in his head as he pounded his fists against one of the sides of the egg. Once again, cold tears ran down his cheeks, a contrast to the warmth of the red egg that encased him. “No! You can’t do that! You have no right to take away my right to die! Undo it, I don’t want your energy in me!”

The egg was silent as the panicked boy kept shouting. If only he could realize the irony of his position now- screaming with no intent to stop, pounding against a silent mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm working the line between having Skeppy and Bad's relationship be platonic and romantic lmao help me. Like I said, I'm writing it platonic personally but I guess at this point the way I perceive best friends to work can go beyond the "just friends" boundary of thinking and actions and still be called platonic by the involved parties. Does that make sense?
> 
> TL;DR I'm really close with my best friends and stuff we do together probably crossed a romantic boundary awhile ago but we don't care and it's warped my perception of platonic relationships I guess
> 
> At the end of the day, I still personally don't ship Skephalo and I hope that's fine. But I know I can't stop others from doing so and therefore if you wanna read this romantically, go ahead.
> 
> See you soon with the next chapter yall. I have mad plans for where I want to take this Crimson Arc on my own terms.


	3. The Heat Of My Sins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This… couldn’t be healthy. No, in fact, Puffy knew it wasn’t healthy, but when Bad had his mind set on something it was nearly impossible to get him to change his mind, even if he was doing something dangerous to his health.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HI IM BACK AND IM NOT GIVING THIS UP ANYTIME SOON THE MOMENT I HAVE THE POTENTIAL FOR ANGST IN MY HANDS I RUN WITH IT LIKE A GREEDY BITCH WEEEEEEEEEEE
> 
> I know this says Skeppy-Centric but uh. This chapter has Bad and Puffy in it instead because if Skeppy's POV didn't break your heart already I'm about to do it to you with them instead
> 
> Also I wanna see if anyone can figure out the pattern behind all the chapter titles past chapter 1 because there definitely will be one lol

This… couldn’t be healthy. No, in fact, Puffy knew it wasn’t healthy, but when Bad had his mind set on something it was nearly impossible to get him to change his mind, even if he was doing something dangerous to his health. His posture was slumped, rigid, terrible, his eyes dull and carrying bags, and he’d barely been doing any eating or drinking at all over the past few days. Puffy wasn’t even sure if he’d slept at all between now and when the incident first happened, but he’d said to her so many times that he didn’t care.

Only Skeppy could make him care, but Skeppy was gone.

Puffy hated that she could even say that- he wasn’t gone, he was right there in front of them, but so far out of reach. The deep purple of the obsidian that imprisoned him and the egg taunted the pair as they simply stood there, staring at it, wondering about if there was anything they could do. Bad kept saying to himself that there was a way to save him, but Puffy wasn’t as hopeful. Puffy wasn’t blinded by the false, desperate hope that Bad was. That was why she was so able to say in her mind that Skeppy was gone- because at this point, even if they found a way to break the obsidian without falling under the control of the egg, it would be far too late for Skeppy’s body to have held on. And that was the worst of it.

They couldn’t even tell if Skeppy was alive or not now- ever since he’d trapped himself in there, as much as Bad and Puffy screamed for him to answer, say anything at all, there was no response. Bad theorized that he simply couldn’t hear them, and he was adamant to stick to that explanation, and would continue to do so even weeks from now most likely. He wouldn’t give up because giving up would absolutely break him even more than he already was broken.

Puffy sighed deeply, closing her eyes and tilting her head down to the floor. Skeppy wouldn’t want this- for Bad to sit here and slowly kill himself over him. As the “discount skeppy” of the server she would really have to step in for him this time. That thought left such a bitter taste in her mouth now. All of the dumb joking that she could replace him, and be a better Skeppy than he ever could for Bad, it was all painful memories. She never thought something like that would actually come to pass, and now that it has, she would rather die and actually replace the boy. It would hurt too much, for both of them. She wouldn’t be the replacement. But Bad was still her friend, and she would still try to take care of him to the best of her ability, because that’s what friends do.

“Bad.” Puffy called gently, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Please. It’s been days, and all you’ve done is sat here with the egg. I know you miss him, but letting yourself waste away here isn’t what he would want.”

“Don’t talk like that.” Bad snapped harshly, not even turning to look at her.

“Talk… like what?” Puffy asked slowly, unsure how stable her friend was.

“Like he’s… like he’s dead, Puffy!” Bad half-shouted, half-wailed as he sat up abruptly and turned to glare at her. “Don’t talk to me like Skeppy’s dead, because he’s not! He’s still in there, and I don’t care if you think otherwise because you’re incorrect! You’re _wrong!_ He’s still alive and we’re going to save him at whatever cost! I don’t care what I’m doing to myself, none of it matters because my best friend is in there with the red egg, hopefully still fighting off it’s influence, and I am not going to let what he did become a self-sacrifice!”

Puffy rarely sees Bad this mad and frustrated- he was usually not one to raise his voice and actually mean it. It only made sense that he’d be so fierce on a topic about his best friend. She sighed.

“Bad… how long will you hold to this? I don’t like to be the bearer of bad news, but… you can’t keep this up forever. Your body will give out just as Skeppy’s did- will. You and I both know he doesn’t want this for you! He put himself inside that egg because he wanted to free us, to free you! He could tell that the egg was controlling us all, and he did the only thing he could do to stop it!” Puffy argued back. She paused, being careful with what she said next. “He chose you over the egg, even if it doesn’t seem like it. Maybe he’s with the egg now, but he did it for you.”

Bad nearly crumpled back to the floor as large tears began spilling from his eyes. “Oh Puffy! This is all my fault! I couldn’t choose Skeppy over the egg when I should’ve! And I would’ve if I had just been able to think properly! And now Skeppy’s in there with the egg, all alone, and I can’t even talk to him, oh Puffy… I don’t know if he’s still alive…”

Shit. She pushed too far, she might’ve broken him even though she’d been trying to avoid it. “Hey… Bad, listen. Skeppy is strong. He didn’t let the egg control him, and I feel like he would try to fight God and win if he had the chance.” She attempted some humor. “If he wasn’t trying to fight his own bodily functions and systems right now to defy the world, then it wouldn't really be Skeppy. Yes, it’s been a few days, but I think Skeppy’s still in there, still fighting. But we are still running out of time. So please, let’s get out of here for a few hours, get some food in you, and get you some rest. You can’t save Skeppy in a state like this.”

Bad shook his head furiously, his whole body trembling with the action. “NO! No… no I can’t leave him Puffy, if I don’t stay then he’ll really be alone and he’ll be so far away from me and I don’t think…” He broke off with a thick swallow. “I don’t think I can take that. Please.”

Puffy bit her lip. Staying down here wasn’t an option, whether Bad liked it or not. She wasn’t even sure when the last time he went out in the sunlight. As far as she knew, every time she saw him he was always here, underground, nearly silent. He would sometimes talk to the air, pretending like Skeppy could hear him.

“Bad, I’m sorry. It’s not healthy for you to stay underground for this long. I have to take you back up to the surface for food and rest. Would it make you feel better if I came back here to the egg when you’ve fallen asleep? I can keep Skeppy company for you.”

Bad eventually agreed to this arrangement, and the two left the cave with some struggles- Bad could barely hold himself up to walk properly, and Puffy made sure to support him on the way back to his and Skeppy’s house. She knew it would sting, returning to the house now empty of his roommate and best friend, but she wasn’t sure of where else to take him. Thankfully, it seemed like he was too out of it to register this. Having to practically carry him across the Prime Path back home slowed their speed, but they made it in the end. By the time she dragged him through the doors of the home and up the stairs, he was practically passed out in her arms. So Puffy made sure to tuck him into bed carefully, and set a plate of food for him nearby when he woke up. As much as she wanted to stay and make sure he ate when he woke up, she’d promised Bad to keep Skeppy company- so off she went back to the underground cave, where the obsidian prison stood.

She slowly trailed up close to it, regarding it with unreadable expressions. Shakily, she outstretched her hand and placed it flat against the cool, dark rock. Her arm trembled as she curled her fingers in, leaving her fist against the obsidian as she fought with herself to keep her tears in.

“Skeppy, you better be alive in there or I swear…” She mumbled out harshly, unable to finish her sentence.

Like Bad, she had her feelings about who was to blame for this situation. It had been jokes mostly, the whole discount Skeppy thing, but now she couldn’t help but think about times she might’ve gone too far, and those times having contributed to this outcome. If only she’d been more light, if only she didn’t act like she was trying to take Bad away from Skeppy… maybe this extreme outcome would have never happened. She and Bad both had their mental sins to work past now.

Puffy pounded her fist against the obsidian once, ignoring the pain in her knuckles after the fact. “You hear me in there Skeppy?!” She shouted. “You better be alive! Or I’ll come in there and kill you myself! We’re going to get you home safely! For Bad!”

But there was only silence, as small, purple drops of liquid leaked from some of the cracks in the obsidian box. The droplets would end up mixing with the tears of the woman keeping watch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You ever just get so empty because your best friend is gone you start slowly killing yourself like that
> 
> p a i n
> 
> Am I supposed to be putting tws or cws on these? I'm not really sure. I don't usually do so for my other stories because my tagging pretty much keeps people away from the angst unless they can handle it. I dunno. This community is different from my other one, so I'm still learning. Teach me, HappyAo3
> 
> Anyways... back to Skeppy next chapter. How are you feeling with my direction for the Crimson Arc so far?> Comment below and tell me! I love reviews :)


	4. Apprehension

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skeppy didn’t want to hear the voice of the egg anymore. He had no more tears left to cry after his meltdown- he should have been dead by now, surely. He would have cried himself into death by dehydration.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi! I'm back. Sorry for making you wait a little bit. The Crimson Arc on the DSMP seems to be in limbo for now considering the circumstances, but that hasn't stopped my plans for the Arc. I have a complete different direction for it.
> 
> HOWEVER before you read this chapter, I do wanna say this- I will not drown you all in angst with this. I already do that to my readers on my public story. I don't want to ruin y'alls mental states just because mine isn't too great. So here and there, there will be "filler" chapters with fluff or just general breaks from the sadness the plot gives off. The first one of these filler chapters will be the next one, chapter 5! So fair warning.

_ Can you… not hear your friend wailing for you right outside our purple prison? _

Skeppy didn’t want to hear the voice of the egg anymore. He had no more tears left to cry after his meltdown- he should have been dead by now, surely. He would have cried himself into death by dehydration. The egg hadn’t been lying when it said it was keeping him alive now. The blood pumping in his veins felt so disgustingly alien, and he hated every second he could hear his heartbeat still bumping away. Cheating death, even non-consensual, still did things to his thoughts.

“No, I can’t. Did you just casually forget all the times I tried screaming out to my friends before and getting no response? Our voices can’t pierce the obsidian one way or another. I can’t hear them, they can’t hear me. They never will.”

_ I can still hear it. Disgusting wailing. My shell is pressed up right against the rock and I can hear her crying. Barely, but enough to annoy me. Get her to stop. _

“Did you not hear me the first time?” Skeppy grumbled, voice hoarse from the earlier outburst. His throat was so dry, and yet he was still talking. “I literally can’t talk to my friends because of you. You’re keeping me alive for nothing. Let me die at least. I don’t want to be here and I know there’s no way for my friends to free me without you taking control of them again.”

_ Your hopelessness grows even more annoying every time you talk about it. You’ll come around eventually. You’ll be on my side one of these days. _

“Like hell.” Skeppy snarled back, curling even closer in on himself. “I know my limits. My mental strength is beyond your estimates. You’re not winning this.”

_ You could at least show some interest in trying to hear any contact from your Puffy friend. You claim to love your friends but you’ve given up so easily. Are these really the people you gave up your life for? _

Skeppy sighed. “Trying so much and getting no results hurts, but I didn’t expect you to know that. You don’t understand and you can’t understand.”

_ I feel an energy on the surface of the obsidian. How strange. I think your friend is practicing physical contact with a rock. She seems unhinged. _

“You mean she’s touching the obsidian?” Skeppy grumbled with a roll of his eyes- his eyes were getting used to the warm darkness by now. “Why do you have to describe things with big words like that? It just makes you sound even more like a jerk.”

_ I think I can hear her because she’s touching the obsidian. I was unable to hear your friends before now just like you. This is a new development. You have my energy running through you now, you should be able to sense the touch’s energy as well. Stop ignoring your gifted powers. Use them for your desires. You desire your friends. Stop stewing in your own self-righteousness. _

Skeppy could feel the temptation burning in his fingertips. The egg was right, even if he hated to admit it. Only a few days had gone by, as far as he was aware, not even a week, and he was already missing his friends so, so much. This was also the first time the egg had mentioned anything about giving him extra powers. He didn’t want them to begin with, but on the off chance he could do something,  _ anything… _

Skeppy uncurled himself and stood up from the shell’s floor. Unsure of how he would go about using this ‘energy sense’, he stood around dumbly for a moment before the egg’s voice rang out in his mind again.

_ How the tables have turned, I see. You tell me I know nothing of your kind, but you know nothing of me. Being able to sense the energy of other beings around me comes naturally. Perhaps just try thinking of your Puffy friend, and how she’s right outside your reach physically, but mentally not so much, _

“You’re just making things up now. You don’t even know how to properly explain the usage of your own powers.” Skeppy replied with a huff, but still did as he was suggested to. It was the only lead he had to go off of.

Skeppy thought about Puffy. Thought about how they’d been interacting lately- how rocky those interactions had been to start. He couldn’t help himself from feeling a bit jealous and angry just thinking about it, but he shook himself out of those feelings. This was Puffy, and the whole ‘taking Bad away from him’ bit was all jokes at the end of the day. He had to remember that. He couldn’t let himself feel any ill-will towards the Captain, no matter what kind of relationship they had. And with this resolve in his heart, he suddenly felt a small tug of energy coming from one of the walls of the egg. He couldn’t see anything, but he could still guide himself to the source by feeling alone. It was a small grouping of energy- he assumed from this that all she was doing was leaving her hand placed flat against the stone.

He frowned, and without really thinking about it, his own arm raised up and he placed his hand flat against the egg’s shell, as close to the energy from her hand as possible.

_ “Skeppy, you better be alive in there or I swear…” _

Skeppy nearly jumped back in surprise when he suddenly heard Puffy’s voice through the obsidian. It was faint, but still very clear to him what she was saying.

“Puffy…”

“ _ You hear me in there Skeppy?!”  _

“Yes!” Skeppy hollered desperately. “I can hear you! Can you hear me, Puffy?”

_ “You better be alive! Or I’ll come in there and kill you myself! We’re going to get you home safely! For Bad!” _

His heart sank. She couldn’t hear him still, even after all of that. It was progress, being able to hear his friends if they were touching the obsidian, but he still couldn’t communicate with them at all. He couldn’t tell them he was alive- they would lose hope soon and he knew it. He didn’t want them to give up on him!

Skeppy heard louder sobbing on the other side, his heart twisting when the sobs suddenly cut away, and he couldn’t feel Puffy’s energy anymore. He felt a stray tear rolling down his cheek as he slowly took his hand away from the surface it had rested on, the interaction only leaving him with an even bigger pit in his stomach.

_ Strange. The composition of some of the obsidian outside changed just now, right before you took your hand away. What are you doing, then? What have you done? _

Skeppy blinked needlessly, wiping away the runaway tear out of habit. “Dude I have no idea what you’re talking about. I can’t see anything in here, much less out there. How can you even tell these things, anyway?”

_ My shell rests right against the stone. I know what obsidian feels like. Something has changed in a few pieces of the prison. It’s still obsidian, but it feels… weaker. Still able to block my power, but cracked, almost. Crying. _

“Crying obsidian.” Skeppy stated bluntly. “You’re telling me I somehow had the power to alter the obsidian that much? To turn it into a completely different type of resource?”

_ Something drips from the cracks. It tries to drip past my shell, but it has no room to escape. It only has outward to go. You made it cry along with your friend Puffy. _

Skeppy thought about this for a moment. Everything was new and strange now, not quite good, but not quite bad anymore either. If what the egg was saying was true, then he could possibly have a way of communicating with the outside, even if he couldn’t use his words. It seemed like the egg was unsure of just what powers it had given him by keeping him alive with its energy.

_ You are very strange. You altered the blocks and yet you have no idea how you did that? Shouldn’t you know what your own body and mind is capable of? _

“These aren’t my powers, you idiot.” Skeppy snapped. “You put these on me without my consent, but now it seems like neither of us know what’s happening. You’re losing your control more and more by keeping me alive like this. Mixing your powers with my humanity might have been the biggest mistake you’ve made yet.”

_ Perhaps. Perhaps not. Are you not curious to explore this unknown? Have you no desire to pursue this? Your potential under my wing is very interesting. But with the power you’ve displayed now, you can’t best me. If you alter the blocks of the obsidian too much, you release my power to control your friends. You don’t want that now, do you? _

Damn. It had a point. “I could find power that I could use to destroy you. I could kill you at any point if I just find a way.”

_ Highly unlikely. You’re arguing against yourself. Your drive to take the coward’s way out is still rather annoying- I’m not going to let you die. You’ll stay my experiment for as long as we’re trapped here. I’ll let you go the moment I have no more need for you. I gave you that energy to keep you alive, and I can take it away just as quickly. Without my power you’d die before you could see your friends again. _

Skeppy stayed silent, thinking about this stalemate they seemed to have going on. But there was still a positive to come out of this. There was a possibility to get himself out of this, to get back to his friends, to Bad. As much as he hated the egg, and how much he’d wanted to give himself up as a sacrifice for this, letting himself die would hurt Bad more than taking the egg’s power and possibly corrupting himself. He’d do it if it meant he could see his friends again. His drive to make it out of this alive had finally returned.

In his little looking-up attitude, he didn’t notice the warmth radiating from his fingertips, and how the warmth wasn’t going away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still waiting to see if anyone can figure out the correlation between the chapter titles. Chapter 1 isn't part of the pattern, but the rest are. Hehe. If you know you're very observant.
> 
> I've deactivated my Twitter for a few days for mental health things I suppose, which means less distraction from this story! So chapter 5 should come faster than the last update. Probably. We'll see if I have any writer's block on the filler fluff lol
> 
> see you all soon :)
> 
> EDIT: BRUH I POST THIS AND 20 MINUTES LATER BAD STARTS STREAMING ABOUT THE CRIMSON ARC LOL BYE


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